Yeah, I was a big fan of his BOP run myself. His stuff looked great when it was clean and simple. Nowadays, his JLA looks so overworked. And quit channeling Rob Liefeld - enough of the wooden poses already.

Joined: 6/7/2007Posts: 2,270Points: 6,774Location: in the heart of California's Gold Country

I took the liberty of collecting the data from this sight and making a "best of" list.Because most people didn't put there list in order I gave each artist 1 point for every time they were mentioned on someones list.The bios come fromComic Book Resource.

Tied for 1st with 10 votes-

#2 on Comic Resource's 50 All-Time Top Artists list

Jim Lee -

Jim Lee attended Princeton University, originally intending to become a doctor. After graduation in the mid-'80s, however, Lee decided to take a shot at a career in comic book art first. After some small independent work, Lee was soon drawing a number of different titles for Marvel Comics, including "Alpha Flight" and "Punisher War Journal."

In 1989, Lee was given a fill-in position on "Uncanny X-Men." The result was so impressive that soon after the fill-in he was named the regular penciller of the title. He would draw the book for the next two years, coinciding with commercial success that the title had not seen in years.

Lee's dynamic and stylized art (with a great attention to detail) was extremely popular. Marvel decided to capitalize on Lee's popularity by launching a second "X-Men" title in 1991, with Lee as the artist (and ultimately, the co-writer).

At the time, however, Image Comics was being founded, and Lee was asked to be a part of it. He eventually agreed, and became one of the original seven founding members of Image Comics.

Lee's branch of Image was called Wildstorm studios. Lee contributed the massive hit, "WildC.A.T.S.," which he drew and co-wrote with Brandon Choi, and helped develop a number of new titles for the studio. In the late '90s, Lee made a real push towards giving other creators a place to produce creator-owned titles, and came up with Homage Studios and Cliffhanger, which published such critically acclaimed comics as "Astro City" and "Strangers in Paradise" (Homage) and such commercial hits as "Battle Chasers" and "Danger Girl" (Cliffhanger). Ultimately, Lee merged the two studios into one group titled Wildstorm Signature.

In the mid-'90s, Lee drew and co-wrote "Fantastic Four" for about a year, as part of Marvel's Heroes Reborn deal with Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld's respective studios.

After Heroes Reborn, Lee rededicated himself to Wildstorm, drawing "Divine Right," and helping creators launch such notable new series such as "The Authority" and "Planetary." Soon after, Lee struck a deal with Alan Moore to produce Moore's America's Best Comics line.

In 1998, though, Lee sold Wildstorm to DC Comics. Since then, he has contributed a year-long run on "Batman" with writer Jeph Loeb in 2002 that was the biggest hit of the year, titled "Hush." He then did a year-long run on "Superman" with writer Brian Azzarello.

Currently, he is illustrating "All-Star Batman and Robin" with writer Frank Miller and a relaunched "Wildcats" with writer Grant Morrison.

Joined: 6/7/2007Posts: 2,270Points: 6,774Location: in the heart of California's Gold Country

Tied for 1st with 10 votes -

voted #5 on Comic Book Resources list of All-time Top 50 Artists is;

Alex Ross

After a stint at Chicago's American Academy of Art, Alex Ross broke into comics in the early '90s, doing work for Now Comics.

His biggest break, though, was in 1993, when he collaborated with Kurt Busiek on the smash success, "Marvels," where readers first were introduced to Ross' trademark photorealistic and imposing painted work.

In 1996, Ross followed up "Marvels" with "Kingdom Come," with writer Mark Waid, which was another critical and commercial success.

During the late '90s, Warner Brothers began promoting Ross' work with fine art prints of his drawings. In addition, he worked with Paul Dini on a series of large-format one-shots featuring the most popular DC characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel.

Also during the late '90s, Ross worked with writer Jim Krueger on the Marvel Comics series "Earth X," which was based on some ideas and designs Ross had done for Wizard Magazine, in which Ross designed the future of the Marvel Universe. Ross would design the characters and do the covers on both "Earth X" and its two sequels, "Universe X" and "Paradise X."

Ross' art reached perhaps its largest audience when, in 2002, he was asked to create a promotional poster for the 2002 Academy Awards.

Currently, Ross is working with Jim Krueger again, this time on a 12-issue series for DC starring the Justice League called simply "Justice." Ross is co-writing the book with Krueger and painting over Dougie Braithwaite's pencils.

Joined: 6/7/2007Posts: 2,270Points: 6,774Location: in the heart of California's Gold Country

3rd place with 8 votes -

voted #3 on Comic Book Resources list of All-time Top 50 Artists is;

George Perez

George Perez first broke into comics in the early '70s, drawing backups for Marvel's magazine line. Soon, Perez was gaining enough attention that he was given one of Marvel's bigger titles, "The Avengers." Perez was a hit on the book, and for most of the '70s, Perez kept busy on a number of assignments for Marvel, including a run on "Fantastic Four" with Marv Wolfman.

Towards the beginning of the '80s, Perez was already doing work for DC Comics, drawing "Justice League of America." When his old "Fantastic Four" partner, Wolfman, made the move to DC, Perez and Wolfman got together to launch the "New Teen Titans."

The book was a smash hit, both critically and commercially, and Perez and Wolfman were instant comic book stars.

"Titans" was the perfect mixture of Perez' strengths - clean, but still dynamic and just a little ornate. In addition, Perez had soon gained a reputation as being one of the best artists out there for drawing large groups of heroes (note the team books he worked on - "Avengers," "Justice League," "Titans" - he loved the group shots).

On "Titans," Perez honed his skills, becoming more and more detailed.

His ability to draw large groups was put to the test when, in 1985, he joined Wolfman on "Crisis on Infinite Earths," the massive DC crossover that changed the DC Universe forever and remains a favorite amongst comic readers. It also gave Perez the chance to draw lots and lots and lots of characters.

After "Crisis," Perez went solo (while working with Len Wein at first) and relaunched "Wonder Woman" for DC.

After staying on the book a number of years, in the '90s, Perez ceased regular work, instead working on mini-series and special projects.

He still managed to produce some highly acclaimed work, like "Hulk: Future Imperfect," with writer Peter David.

In the late '90s, Perez took up regular comic work again, relaunching the "Avengers" with writer Kurt Busiek. The book was a smash hit.

Perez then signed an exclusivity deal with CrossGen, but in the meantime, he began work on "JLA/Avengers," a prestige edition crossover of the Marvel and DC characters that Perez had initially worked on in the '80s, before a disagreement between the two companies quashed the deal. Now, two decades later, Perez finally had the chance to finish it.

And, of course, draw a cover featuring every single member of the Justice League and the Avengers.

Perez also contributed covers (and some interior pages) to "Infinite Crisis," the sequel to the original crossover Perez had worked on in the mid-'80s.

Recently, it was announced that Perez will be working on a new team-up series for DC with writer Mark Waid titled "Brave and the Bold."

Jack Kirby (nee Jacob Kurtzberg) first broke into drawing in the mid-'30s, while still in his late teens. He worked for a Cartoonist Syndicate for a few years, then for an animation studio for a time. By this point, comic books were really beginning to take off, and this was a place that Kirby could really find a career on his own.

Kirby first began to contribute to Will Eisner and Jerry Iger's comic book packaging studio, and then later, was one of the artists who were hired away by Fox Comics. At Fox, he first met Joe Simon. The two would become collaborators for well over the next decade.

The two left Fox and began working at Timely Comics. It was there that the duo created Captain America, one of the biggest comic successes of the time.

After a disagreement with Timely Comics' publisher, Martin Goodman, Kirby and Simon left for DC Comics, where they had a number of hits.

Kirby and Simon both entered the military for World War II, and when they came back, they paired up again, and began to work in a number of genres for a number of comic book companies.

By the late '50s, with the comic industry floundering, the pair realized they would be better off if each man tried to make it on his own, so the duo split up.

Kirby began working at Marvel Comics (nee Timely Comics), just before they were about to hit it big with superhero comics.

When they did begin producing superhero comics, Kirby co-created, with Stan Lee, such classic titles as "Fantastic Four," "Incredible Hulk" and the "X-Men."

While working on the "Fantastic Four," Kirby either created or co-created such long-lasting characters as Dr. Doom, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Black Panther and The Inhumans.

Tiring with the working conditions at Marvel, in the early '70s, Kirby left for DC Comics, where he created the Fourth World, which was his stories of the New Gods - heroic Orion and villainous Darkseid, as well as the Forever People and Mister Miracle.

After creating a number of other characters for DC, Kirby returned to Marvel in the mid-'70s, writing and drawing "Black Panther," "Captain America" and "The Eternals."

Kirby left Marvel again in the late '70s, this time to work in animation.

In the 80s, he did some independent comic book work.

In the early '90s, Topps Comics debuted a whole line of comics based on Kirby ideas.

Joined: 6/7/2007Posts: 2,270Points: 6,774Location: in the heart of California's Gold Country

oakman29 wrote:

1.Neal Adams2.John Romita3.Ditko4.Bernie Wrightson5.Alex RossThere is more but you only said 5

Oakman, you have all the Marvel originators except Kirby. Where does he fall on your list? What about John Buscema?

I agree with your list though, Ditko's Dr. Strange is one of my all time favorite comics, and IMO Romita (not Ditko) drew the definitive Spider-Man. When I think of Spidy, Romita is the one I think of.

Ross is a great choice too. I think him and Busiek reinvented and revitalized comics for this Decade. Without them I'm sure we wouldn't be seeing the books that we see today. Books like Brubaker's Cap and JSA.

Jim Steranko had many different occupations through his early 20s, including escape artist and magician, but finally, the comic world snared him, initially with him working for Joe Simon at Harvey Comics.

He then went to Stan Lee at Marvel looking for a gig, and he was assigned finishes on Jack Kirby's SHIELD stories in Strange Tales. Soon, Steranko would take over drawing the series, and after that, writing the series as well. The stories were popular enough that Nick Fury and SHIELD were given their own title, which Steranko famously drew four of the first five issues of.

Steranko's stylized art, filled with bombast and pop art influence (not to mention psychedelic influences) was over the top, yet refined at the same time.

Steranko brought this style to Captain America for three issues as well.

Soon, Steranko realized monthly comic book drawing was not for him, so he went into book cover illustration, as well as forming his own publication company, where he put out the Steranko History of Comics.

He also began to work in film, helping to design Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

He occasionally still produced comic book work, with his stylized black and white shadowy work in Chandler: Red Tide in 1976 serving as a gigantic influence for Frank Miller's Sin City style of art.

As a young man, Neal Adams first attempted to break into comic books, but found little success. Instead, he turned to the world of comic strips, drawing backgrounds as an assistant on a number of strips before getting his own, "Ben Casey," which he did for a few years.

In the mid-60s, after some success getting work at Warren Comics, Adams tried with DC Comics again, this time finding work with the Deadman serial in "Adventure Comics," which quickly got the attention of comic book editors at both DC and Marvel.

His realistic, yet dynamic style of art really broke free of the standard style of art that DC usually used at the time, making Adams' art seem even more dramatic than it actually was.

Marvel snared Adams next interior assignment, having him draw a run on "X-Men" and "Avengers," which were both critically acclaimed.

DC then got Adams to do a run on "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" with writer Denny O'Neil that drew acclaim from comic readers, and even outside the comic industry.

Since that run ended in the early '70s, Adams has rarely done regular comic book work, choosing instead to devote his time to his own company, Continuity Associates, which did commercial artwork. However, Adams continued to supply DC with regular cover work throughout the 70s, providing some of the most striking and gripping covers on the market.

He also did a number of popular posters.

In the '80s, Adams expanded Continuity to include its own comic line, which Adams did some work for.

Currently, Adams still runs Continuity, as he continues to be a sought-after commercial artist, but he still manages to do a comic book cover here and there with more work to come.

In the early 70s, John Byrne made his major comic book debut for Charlton Comics. Byrne would draw a number of titles for Charlton before moving over to Marvel towards the middle of the 70s.

Byrne was quickly put to work on a number of titles, and he grew more popular as an artist.

Byrne's clean art style lent itself well to superhero comics, especially his ability to draw a number of characters at one time, without getting non-detailed. Byrne's linework generally skews towards curves, rather than straight lines, giving his characters a softer, less harsh edge.

In 1978, Byrne became the regular artist on X-Men, with writer Chris Claremont. Byrne drew the book for the next few years as the title soon became one of Marvel's biggest sellers, and after the run, Byrne left to draw and write Fantastic Four, to great acclaim and high sales.

Byrne has an acclaimed run drawing Captain America with writer Roger Stern.

Through the mid-80s, Byrne had pretty much drawn every Marvel superhero in their title, with the notable exceptions of Thor and Dr. Strange.

In the mid-80s, Byrne moved to DC, where he revamped Superman with the mini-series, Man of Steel. He also drew DC's big crossover, Legends.

He returned to Marvel in the late 80s, and drew Avengers West Coast and The Sensational She-Hulk.

In the 90s, Byrne drew Namor for Marvel, and also drew his creator-owned title, Next Men, for Dark Horse Comics.

Frank Miller broke into comic as a young man, drawing a number of short stories for both DC and Marvel. He soon became a fairly regular cover and fill-in artist for Marvel, until finally, in the late 70s, being assigned the regular art gig on Daredevil.

As Miller grew more comfortable on the book, he began to experiment, and his art got a lot less mainstream and a lot more noirish - working with shadows a lot more.

This same detailed, noir look, was brought over to the immensely popular Wolverine mini-series drawn by Miller, written by Chris Claremont.

After he finished his acclaimed run on Daredevil, Miller began to experiment with art even more, with his creator-owned mini-series, Ronin, for DC, where Miller took in a lot of manga influences to his style.

Miller continued to experiment with the seminal Batman mini-series, Dark Knight Returns, where he continued with his expert storytelling techniques.

In the 90s, though, Miller changed his style even more dramatically, with the debut of Sin City, Miller was using exaggerated characters, heavy shadows and often more suggesting characters with lines and shadow rather than outright rendering them.

The series was a massive success (recently turned into a film, with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez attempting to transfer Miller's style directly into the film).

More recently, Miller experimented even further, with the mini-series Dark Knight Strikes Again, as Miller drew a good deal of the series using heavily digitized colors.

Miller recently announced he will be adapting Will Eisner's The Spirit for film, as well as writing and drawing a Batman graphic novel featuring the Dark Knight facing off with Al Qaeda.

As good of a list as it is (CBR), I take it with a grain of salt. Brian Bolland and Dave McKean should be so much higher on the list, for example. Again, it's voting from comic fans, many of who have no clue of anything artistic, just what they think is pretty.

But really, the top three I have trouble arguing against. But a lot of it is a popularity contest.

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